Spooky skyscraper-sized asteroid will pass by Earth on Halloween

NASA experts have just identified a huge asteroid passing by Earth this upcoming Halloween and it’s heralded as the largest object to reach such close proximity to our planet in a long time.  Deemed as Asteroid 2015 TB145, the object will pass Earth at 1.3 lunar distances (310,000 miles) and be anywhere in diameter from 280 to 620 m (918 to 2,034 ft). Expected to travel at 126,000 km/h (78,293 mph), the asteroid was only discovered two weeks ago in Hawaii using the Pan-STARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System) telescope, a device with four total cameras, each capable of capturing around 1.4 billion pixels over a 40 cm square sensor

“This is the closest approach by a known object this large until 1999 AN10 approaches within 1 lunar distance in August 2027,” NASA said in a report. “The flyby presents a truly outstanding scientific opportunity to study the physical properties of this object.”

The asteroid will travel through the constellation Orion during the evening of October 30 and early hours of October 31, California time. U.S. residents may observe the object in the night sky as it will slowly move through the field of stars.

But no need to worry: NASA states that the asteroid is expected to safely pass by Earth and is following an eccentric and high-inclination orbit, which may explain why the object was not discovered until October 10, 2015.

The encounter of Asteroid 2015 TB145 provides perfect opportunity for many observatories to test out their imaging and radar-tracking capabilities before the next sighting with 1999 AN10 in 2027. Radio astronomy installations at DSN Goldstone, California and the Arecibo array in Puerto Rico will track and record the path of 2015 TB145 via radar, which may help provide valuable data for future asteroid encounters.

Information from this asteroid could also help experts detect close encounters of objects earlier and enhance warning times, and contribute to development of the proposed NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission designed to divert celestial objects that may come in contact with Earth.

Via Gizmag